


devil on my tongue

by mulgogish



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Hair-pulling, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Making Out, Mentions of Blood, Minor Injuries, oddly specific but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:42:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28027203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mulgogish/pseuds/mulgogish
Summary: Sungchan is just a place to crash when it's convenient.
Relationships: Jung Sungchan/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 19
Kudos: 73





	devil on my tongue

**Author's Note:**

> early merry chrysler youve had enough of me,, see you next year !!
> 
> title and story inspired by: [♡](https://open.spotify.com/track/4i2qxFEVVUi8yOYoxB8TCX?si=iJ-rC65nT0C7xaTmsIUCdw)
> 
> enjoy! ♡

Sometimes he thinks it would be weird to say that he doesn't know anything about Chenle beside his name and the occasional bruises and marks in his skin whenever he visits. That Chenle only randomly found his apartment, in a secluded side of town, knocked on it and asked if he could patch him up. It would also be weird to say that he had let him in despite the mysterious sight of a man panting for his life, a scar on his neck and blotches of bruises turning into ugly shades of purple. 

His friends would only laugh, say he's probably drunk when he met the guy. That all of these were imagination in his head, and Chenle actually met him at a bar. He wishes it's that easy, but the image engraved in his mind. There's no explanation for that.

There's also no explanation as to why Chenle kept coming back. Why he memorized Sungchan's apartment building, the address, even his face. 

He comes back and disappears for three days or more, comes back and heals, then leaves. 

What's weirder is that Sungchan doesn't question it. He lets it happen. 

He also lets Chenle run his hands through his hair as he bites his lips in delight and hunger. He lets Chenle smother his mouth with kisses until it's swollen and Sungchan's panting for air. He lets Chenle cook him breakfast, because god knows he's a better cook than him. And by far the craziest one, he lets Chenle stay the night, on his bed beside him. 

Sungchan's not scared. He isn't really sure how long it has been going on. He has his own life, own job, own hobbies to care for other than understanding why he's tending wounds of a boy with porcelain skin, so fragile and soft. 

Just like any other day, here's Chenle sitting on his couch watching as Sungchan, in his crouching position, clean the dripping blood on his knee with water before circling a bandage on it. He can hear Sungchan grumbling under his breath; it's probably a complaint about Chenle's never ending line of injuries.

"You come here with an even bigger wound than before." Sungchan groans, standing up with his first aid kit and heads back to the kitchen. "You realize I don't want my neighbors to think I invite someone from a gang and make them think they're all in danger."

"Sungchan," Chenle massages his forehead, leaning on the backrest with his eyes closed in annoyance. "Please shut up. I have been awake for twenty hours, let me rest."

The drawer under the sink slams shut, Sungchan strides to the living with a glare on his eyes. "Don't sleep on my couch wearing those smelly clothes. Wash up first, then sleep." 

  
  


-

"Again?!" 

Chenle limps as he enters the door while Sungchan gapes in shock. Getting out of his stupor, he scans the hallway to see if anyone sees Chenle. There's none. He sighs, running over to the smaller as he fights to get to the living room without falling face flat. 

"Why are you limping?" Sungchan huffs and leaves Chenle to sit back on the couch, grabs the first aid kit at the kitchen. Though it looks like his first aid kit won't be effective as it usually is. 

"You were so good last time, I still can't walk." Chenle snorts, ignoring the curse Sungchan gives his way. 

"I'm serious, you little shit. You're pulling your weight to your left," Sungchan kneels in front of him to check. He holds Chenle's ankle and tries to lightly twist it. When the other groans, Sungchan bites his tongue for another curse. "What happened?" He said instead, looking up to Chenle's face.

There's a purple bruise forming on the side of his left eye, Sungchan almost winces when he noticed. There are few scratches on his neck while his knuckles are red. This isn't the usual state he sees Chenle when he goes to him. 

"You know the tunnel, downtown." Chenle avoids Sungchan's eyes, deciding that the apartment owner's college graduation photos are more interesting for now. 

"Are you fucking serious?" Sungchan spits, letting go of Chenle's ankle too hurriedly than he intended. The smaller winces, caressing the spot as the taller fumes in front of him. 

The tunnel is a prohibited zone for regular people like him. For Chenle, he's not so sure. From the looks of it he's not as welcome as they are. The people gathering at that place would be called bandits, criminals, someone the police would likely look for. Sungchan isn't sure why Chenle would go his way to go there. 

"I got lost." He answers, doubtfully. 

"You cannot get lost at that place and still end up alive." Sungchan helps, kneeling down again to tend the ones he can patch up.   
  
  


Morning comes, it's one of the few times Chenle stays in. Sungchan rubs his eyes as he greets the other in the kitchen. He's making something, it smells good and Sungchan's quite hungry. 

They talk like normal people. They don't mention the happenings that took place the night before. Chenle might have bandaid on his face, slight reddish lines in a lot of places of his skin, but they talk about Sungchan's students and how he's excited to see their faces in P.E today.   
  


When he gets back after a fun day with third graders Chenle isn't in his apartment anymore. It's the one thing he can't get used to. Leaving without a trace, and not even a phone number to call to ask if everything's alright. He doesn't even know if Chenle has a phone. 

  
  
  


-

  
  


Sometimes Chenle enjoys accompanying Sungchan to the local library when he's not being chased by someone he had pissed off. He would sit on the stool next to the reception area, away from the kids gathering on the alphabet mats, talking hushedly after getting told by their parents that they're in a library. 

Sungchan would be standing in front of the kids, a new children's book in hand, preparing himself to read it out loud. He volunteers to read for the children not old enough to go to school yet. He's scheduled every twelve noon to one in the afternoon. Sungchan reads two stories, believe it or not two year olds have so many questions about the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. 

Today, Sungchan's telling a story about a boy and a beanstalk. The kids mumble in awe as they gaze at the cover of the book Sungchan holds. 

He starts quickly, gaining the attention of everyone including the parents watching behind their children. It catches Chenle's attention as well. The way Sungchan's eyes sparkle together with the kids' own when he mentions the magical bean.His mouth opening in the shape of an O as he enthusiastically recites the words. Chenle has to snort in irony, thinking that's the same guy who gets mad at him for fighting with strangers and the same guy who pulls him by the hair as he plants kisses on his neck. 

"You're gonna melt the poor boy." Someone says beside him. Chenle snaps his head towards the voice and sees an unfamiliar man with blue hair. The blue hair gives him a smirk when he notices Chenle gaping at him in question. "You know Jinsu?" 

"Who?"

"Jinsu, it's Sungchan's nickname." Blue hair raises an eyebrow, sitting on an empty stool next to him. 

"Oh, yeah. Okay." 

"I've never seen you around." Chenle can feel the dude scanning him from up to down his body. He wants to tell him it's getting uncomfortable to be gawked at like this, in the library with twenty or so kids and few pairs of parents and guardians. "You his boyfriend or something?"

Chenle frowns, glancing at blue hair with sharp eyes. "I am not."

"Geez," He whistles lowly, pouting his lips as he goes deep in his thoughts. "Here I thought he's not free this Sunday."

  
  


Chenle later finds the name of the mysterious, nosy blue hair. His name is Jaemin and he's scheduled to read another batch of kids at two to three in the afternoon. Sungchan tells him this after he's done getting praises from the moms in the crowd, and invitations from the fathers to come by at their house to meet their daughters. 

They get out of the library, it's a good day for a walk, so they decided to not take a bus to Sungchan's apartment. Chenle dangles his hand, purposely brushing it on the back of Sungchan's. When the taller didn't react, Chenle caught him by the arm and turned Sungchan to face him. 

It didn't take long before Chenle tiptoes to give a kiss, a lighter one than usual. He just wants it now. He's been craving for a kiss since they woke up, but Sungchan was busy preparing for today's schedule. The taller decided that morning that Chenle isn't a priority today. 

He lets go of Sungchan's arm, staring at the flushed face in succession. Chenle gives himself a smug smile, he continues to walk and leaves Sungchan to process what happened. 

He processed it quite quickly. So, he catches up next to Chenle and grips the boy's arm to stop him from getting away. 

"You kiss me too much." Sungchan warns, but his voice is anything but intimidating.

"But you like it." Chenle retaliates with a pout. 

"I do. But seriously," Sungchan stammers, loosening his hold on the other's arm to massage his forehead. "You have to tell me first. Don't just kiss me whenever you want to. You kiss me all the time and I never seem to be ready! Okay. That's it." Sungchan says these all in one breathing, and he points a finger at Chenle. "You can only kiss me five times a day." 

  
  
  


There are instances in his life where he regretted his decisions. Like when he couldn't wait to drink hot cocoa which ended up burning his tongue. That time he decided to retake an exam because he wasn't able to finish, turns out his unfinished one has a higher score. There are these parts in his life where Sungchan thinks he should've just shut his fucking mouth. Frankly, he should have not told Chenle that he can only kiss him five times a day because right now, he can't fucking breathe. 

How long has it been since Chenle has his mouth on his? Sungchan couldn't properly get a grip of the moment, but maybe right after he unlocked the door to his apartment. Chenle probably slammed his back to close it, and his knees hit the cabinet by the hallway when they tried to take themselves to the bedroom. After that, everything became a haze. Sungchan can only feel Chenle's tongue lapping and desperately licking the insides of his mouth, biting his lower lip for a second before kissing him roughly again. 

Sungchan has his left hand tightly holding Chenle's waist as the smaller sits on his hips. He attempts to lift his unoccupied hand, snaking it from Chenle's arm until it reaches his brown locks. Once he finds the correct grip, he pulls the other roughly away from his face. He hears a whine from Chenle, and Sungchan immediately regrets the action. 

They're both panting when they stare back at each other. But Chenle has a mischievous glint in his eyes, and he's smiling down at Sungchan while the taller one has himself panting for his dear life. His eyes blown wide, mouth wet and swollen from the amount of attention Chenle gave it.

"Jesus," Sungchan finally says, catching his breath. Glad that it's still there. "Did you plan to kill me?" 

At that, Chenle chuckles, brushing the bangs sticking on Sungchan's sweaty forehead. "That good?"

"Shut up, Chenle. You know what I mean." Sungchan grunts, squeezing the smaller's waist to tell him he's being serious. 

"You said I can only kiss you five times." Chenle pouts; honestly, Sungchan wouldn't be able to resist that even if he randomly sees Chenle doing it on the streets. He surely can't resist that in this position. But Sungchan internally scolds himself not to act impulsively. "So, I had to take matters into my own hands." He continues as he snakes his hands on Sungchan's arm to tease him. 

"Chenle." Sungchan sighs, absentmindedly fondling the hem of Chenle's hoodie. It's actually Sungchan's hoodie, because the smaller doesn't have any clothes in his apartment. "I couldn't breathe for — how long exactly were you kissing me?"

"I don't know, five minutes?"

"Five?!" Sungchan goes back to looking like he had just heard the most horrifying news of his life, eyes mistakenly wider than normal. "And you weren't letting me take a break, at least a second. Oh god." He wails, hitting the back of his head on his pillow. 

He was breathing, through his nose, but it can only go so far until Sungchan has to use his mouth to do the most basic thing a human has to do to stay alive. Surprisingly, he feels more alive than ever.

Chenle snorts, eyes crinkling and disappearing as he smiles. It turns into giggles when Sungchan doesn't tell him off, just looks at him with an unreadable expression. 

In truth, it's hard calming himself whenever Chenle comes over and does something innately adorable. It's also a challenge to prevent himself from running across the room to lift the other up and kiss him senseless. Sungchan guesses he deserves that five minutes of no breathing. Sungchan thinks he's a fool for finding comfort at this bundle of mystery sitting on his hips, giggling at him for being stupid, and kissing him like there's no tomorrow. 

He does what his mind tells him to the next minute. He flips them over, so Chenle's lying on his bed this time. The said boy yelps in surprise but doesn't fight. Sungchan leans over to look straight into his eyes, and Chenle has the confidence to smirk back. 

"Look at you being all dominating." Chenle whispers, raising an eyebrow at the other on top of him. 

Sungchan swears he didn't mean to, but he knows heard himself growl as he says, "You can't be the one doing that, this is my place." 

Chenle didn't have enough time to humour him or make another remark as Sungchan crashed their lips together, tongue gaining access to Chenle's mouth as quickly as he started. He could feel Chenle's legs circling his waist as he pulled their bodies closer.   
  
  


He's awoken by the sunlight outside the balcony window. He realizes after that he didn't close the curtains last night since he was sort of occupied. Sungchan smiles at the memory from the night before, patting the other side of the bed to see if Chenle's still there. 

He can't smell anything cooking from the kitchen so he must have gone on his way at dawn while Sungchan was still fast asleep. It's nothing to trouble himself for. A night like that rarely gets an outcome of finding Chenle sitting at the dinner table with coffee in his hands.

Sungchan sits up and stretches his hands. He isn't even half done lifting his arms when he felt the soreness, it made him groan in pain. Chenle loves smacking his arms when he's being pleasured.   
  
  


It goes without saying that the rest of the week became a blur, Chenle hasn't come by for a second and Sungchan's stuck with checking grades and watching bad sitcoms on the television he isn't fond of using. It's just there to complete the living room set. He was twenty two when he bought the apartment, and he thought investing on a television makes him a full grown adult. 

By the time Friday rolls around, Sungchan hasn't seen a strand of hair from the smaller. He decides to take himself to the local bar he hasn't visited in a while. A while started when Chenle became a regular in his place. It felt like his presence was more intoxicating than any alcohol he can intake. 

Sungchan situates himself by the bar, calls the bartender to give him a snack and cola. He should start off lightly if he wants to get home without passing out on the way. The bartender gives him fries and the cola he asked for a minute later. He smiles at her before scanning the crowd. 

As expected, many have planned to disturb the quietness of the night and move their frail bodies to the rhythm of any song that's played at the moment. Sungchan doesn't dance. He doesn't like it when people crowd his space. He's friendly, he likes attention, but bodies sticking into his is a no go. 

Except...

Except when he looks at the occupants sitting at the lounge and tables, he spots a familiar guy clinging comfortably to another man's arm. He's smiling so wide, eyes turning into crescent moons. Just like it did that night at Sungchan's place. 

He forgets he's in a public place, forgets the people around him as his sight zooms at the particular scene across the room. Until the bartender slips a shot glass with vodka to him, and Sungchan has to peel away to stare at her questioningly. 

"You look like you need it." She smiles, looking at the glass and the scene Sungchan was glaring at from a distance. "Try not to burn the poor guy with your eyes, okay? We can't have the bar burning down at this time." She chuckles, turning around to attend to two drunk girls asking for more drinks for their table. 

There was a point in the night where Sungchan couldn't grasp what was happening in front of him. There are noises, screaming and yelling, he can't understand why. His ears rang angrily at him, and his vision suddenly hazy. He can see the black cabinet filled with beverages, but he can't read the words on the bottles. The screaming is so annoying, he has to cover his ears to make it stop. The last thing he remembers is his head hitting the counter.   
  


The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is his ceiling. The ceiling in his bedroom, it's ivory colored, and Sungchan's too busy to paint the walls the color that he likes. The apartment has been his place since graduating college, and he never thought of redesigning. The second thing is he wonders why he's here. Questions himself if he somehow crawled his way out the bar and into the cold night. The third thing is noticing that he has a heachache as heavy as a bulldozer that wants his attention so bad. He groans, standing up from his bed to head to the kitchen, failing to realize someone's waiting for him there. That someone is kind of worried. 

  
  


"You're up? Good." 

Sungchan halts in his steps, rubs his eyes some more before looking up and sees that all too familiar figure of Chenle staring back at him. He instinctively nods, trudging closer to the kitchen to sit himself on one of the dining chairs. 

"How much did you drink that I found you passed out on the counter of a bar at two in the morning?" Chenle huffs, cups clinking on his left hand as he reaches for other kitchenware on the upper cabinets. 

"I haven't drank in a while, okay." Sungchan lamely responds, slapping his forehead to stop the pain. 

"Well, you're lucky we found you and brought you back here." Chenle explains, hastily whisking the batter in the bowl.

The words pique his interest that Sungchan has to fight the pounding in his head just to look up. "We?"

"Hm," Sungchan thinks he saw Chenle freeze but it could be his mind playing games with him because of how much he's drunk. "Jaehyun hyung."

"Jaehyun hyung?"

Chenle nods, continuing to whisk the batter. Sungchan wants to comment that he might be over beating it. "A friend. I was with him at the bar." 

He nods as if Chenle can see it and drops the subject entirely. He's never been called a friend by the other. It's odd to hear that word from him, but Sungchan thinks that Jaehyun dude knows Chenle more than him. Sungchan is just a place to crash when it's convenient. 

The pan sizzles when Chenle drops a slice of butter. 

"You want syrup?" Chenle finally looks back at him, sliding a painkiller on the table before going back to cooking. 

  
  
  


-

  
  


The cycle continues. Just when Sungchan thinks everything is turning in for the better, Chenle has to disappear again. Even the word friend rings in his mind from time to time yet he forgoes asking Chenle if he ever considers their relationship as a special kind of friendship, or nothing at all. 

Today, Chenle tells him he's sleeping in. They fought over dinner an hour ago, Sungchan announced he'll be ordering chicken. But the smaller declines, telling him he'll cook instead. Chenle cooked a meal he remembers from childhood. Although the subject's out of Sungchan's hand, he couldn't help but say, "Your childhood?" 

Chenle just nods, not wanting to explain it further. 

They sat on the bed, Sungchan checking his excel sheets one last time to see if his students' grades are all encoded properly before he submits it to the department head tomorrow. 

"Where do you go when you don't crash into mine?" 

Chenle averts his attention from the windows to the taller sitting beside him. "Some others, I don't know what to call them. But when I know their place is close I just go to them." 

Sungchan hums, clicks shut down and waits for the laptop screen to turn black. He thinks it's the end of the conversation he regrettably started, though as he closes his laptop and opens the top drawer of his bedside table, 

"It's only you, you know, I only let you do it." Chenle felt the need to clear it up, even the night sky couldn't hide the rosy glow of his cheeks when he muttered it. 

Sungchan stares at him for a moment, proceeds to lie down on his side. "Good night." 

  
  
  
  


It's been four days since Chenle last stepped into the door, and Sungchan feels it's about time he comes limping again with another excuse of running into someone he's pissed off in the past. And Sungchan would hum in fake understanding as he cleans the wounds all over the other's body. 

Thus, his intuition is correct once again. But Sungchan couldn't hide the concern every time Chenle steps in with a new batch of bruises, the old scars haven't healed and are still visible in his eyes. 

"What now?"

Chenle hears the boring tone of the taller and laughs, before coughing and placing his hand on his left side. "You know me so well." 

"Let's see Chenle, I had to buy a new bottle of alcohol and a brand new box of bandaids all because of you." 

"Sungchan care me so much." Chenle mocks with a laugh. He has to stop midway, groaning at the pain in his lower hip. 

"What? You broke a bone?" Sungchan asks, obviously alarmed by the action. 

"Can't be that bad." 

The words contradict his reactions, resulting in Sungchan frantically dialing on his phone while glaring at Chenle. 

"You need to go to the hospital."

"What? No! Sungchan, you have been patching my wounds--"

"I can't patch your broken bones, Chenle. I'm a physical education teacher for elementary students. Not a doctor." Sungchan fumbles with his words and says it with much frustration that Chenle didn't have the heart to joke about it. "You're going to see a professional." 

Needless to say, Chenle did go to the hospital by Sungchan's demand. It turns out Jaemin's a surgeon at the said establishment which gave them a friendly discount. It's when Sungchan found out that Chenle's last name is Zhong. Out of all the times he's been with the other, he wasn't able to catch even his full name. 

At least he isn't lying that his name is Chenle. 

Fortunately, it's not a broken bone. Jaemin took them to his office to take an x-ray of Chenle's body, resulting in them buying a few medicines and vitamins at the pharmacy later that night. 

  
  


Their days go back to usual; the usual meaning Chenle going back and forth between appearing and disappearing from his sight. Sungchan had to force him to take at least the vitamins that Jaemin prescribed with him. 

  
  
  


-

  
  


Now would be the perfect time to say you're fuck and it's not the good kind to himself. Sungchan knows this because right after waking up, he goes to the bathroom to rinse his face. As he does so, he notices the blotches of bruises already fading from his neck. He gulps, accidentally staring at it for too long and looks at himself, comically, in the mirror. 

Chenle barges in that afternoon with hunger in his eyes, Sungchan had to stop him midway by arguing they cannot do it on the couch because he doesn't know how to clean it. So, Chenle pulls him up and pushes towards the bedroom. 

This time when Chenle starts kissing him, he forgets about the five times a day rule. In reality, the two have forgotten that that even exists, and was just something Sungchan told him because he gets riled up easily. And Chenle starts whining when Sungchan takes the upper hand, pulling their bodies closer together.

Sungchan takes care of Chenle well. The fact that he hasn't had any partners before this — even if Chenle isn't in any way his — always shocks the smaller that he's this good in bed. Sungchan's rough in the most gentle way. Even with his tall stature, he doesn't let Chenle feel small. He gives and he takes. 

He wonders why Chenle won't take the feelings forming in his heart, and why he thinks the boy won't even settle for this. Why won't he just stay with Sungchan and leave the life that gives him wounds and scratches and pain. 

He won't know unless he asks Chenle. But as he thinks of a way to open it up, Chenle screams his name and that turns off every bit of flicker in his brain. 

They come down from the high until their limbs go limp. Sungchan stands up to clean them up. When he goes back after throwing away the towels, Chenle's already asleep on his bed, mouth pouting unconsciously. 

  
  
  
  


When Sungchan wakes up and pats the other side of the bed, he knows Chenle won't be there anymore. Even with this knowledge, Sungchan felt his stomach churn and his heart drop. It's okay, he thinks, Chenle will be back eventually. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> if you're sad after this play: [♡](https://open.spotify.com/track/0QdePZJfBpRIBautuT4FSx?si=SLthwoCvQ6iWg3HTYdilWA)  
> even if you're not sad after this, i suggest you listen to it. it's chenle's pov ehe
> 
> kudos and comments are highly appreciated ♡
> 
> here's to a prosperous and safe 2021, thank you for everything ♡(╥﹏╥)♡


End file.
